To say Halo 3 was Microsoft's big game for the 360 isn't an understatement. In its early days, the original Xbox survived with the original Halo alone ("kicking high" with Dead or Alive 3 notwithstanding), and Master Chief quickly became the mascot of the brand. When Halo 3 was finally ready in time for the 360's third Christmas, expectations were high and Microsoft's marketing campaign was at a fevered pitch. If the expensive movie-like teasers and D-Day ads hinted at a new "can't miss" experience, what we got instead was more Halo.
Halo 3 is a well-tested and polished refinement of Halo and Halo 2. The gameplay is tighter than ever, but besides a few new ideas—like portable shield bubbles—the formula is starting to get stale. The story too is perfunctory, wrapping up loose ends and completing the trilogy in a "Return of the Jedi" fashion; upping the spectacle, yet serving up too many déjà vu moments from the past.
That said...I still had a fun time with Halo 3. If you've followed Master Chief in the previous chapters and yet somehow not played the third one, you'll probably enjoy it as well. Online multiplayer, if not exactly newbie friendly, is robust, and the forge mode, while not an all out level creator, allows you to customize the multiplayer maps in surprising and entertaining ways.
When the first Halo was released, it nigh revolutionized the console FPS. By the time the third chapter was ready for consumption; many other First Person Shooters had taken the lessons of Halo and applied them in new and innovative ways. With so many expectations, Halo 3 ended up playing it too safe.
2011 ben langberg, all rights reserved.